Franklin Desposito, M.D., medical director at The Center for Human and Molecular Genetics and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, was the keynote speaker at the 68th Annual Mendel Lecture. The topic of his discussion was “Precision Medicine.” Precision medicine is an approach to patient care in which doctors select treatments that are most likely to help patients based on an understanding of the patient’s genetics. For example, if a person’s genes show that they are at a high risk for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), then they can take preventative measures such as eating right and exercising.
Dr. Desposito is a physician and world-renowned expert in medical genetics. He earned a B.S. from Queens College in Flushing, N.Y. and an M.D. from Finch University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School. He has published extensively on many clinical genetics topics, which encompass biochemical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics and the clinical aspects of these disease states. Dr. Desposito has dedicated his life to better the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of patients suffering from numerous genetic conditions.
“Who here would want to know if they were at risk for Alzheimer’s?” he asked. Immediately, the majority of the room raised their hands. “You would want that information available to you so that you could possibly prevent it,” he said.
In general, precision medicine can help pre-determine if a person is at risk for a disease. That person can then change their lifestyle to prevent the onslaught of that disease. However, getting genetic data is expensive; it also creates complications with insurance companies because most illnesses would be considered “preexisting.”
However, Dr. Desposito is optimistic, “As we begin to better understand our own genetic variations, in the future, genetic screening may become a common test that we order before selecting a medication or determining a particular dosage of drug.”
The Mendel Lecture is longest running lecture series at Saint Peter’s. The lecture was sponsored by the The Mendel Biology Society and the departments of biology and applied science and technology. The lecture was coordinated by Leonard Sciorra, Ph.D., the Rev. Joseph E. Schuh, S.J., professor of the health and natural sciences, and Katherine S. Wydner, Ph.D., associate professor in the biology department.
